Yama Reborn
Chapter 52 - 50 [Hummingbird]

Chapter 52: Chapter 50 [Hummingbird]

[[No need to wait for the evening; I’m releasing this Chapter early!]

Last Chapter was over four thousand words; this one is over seven thousand words.

Today there are two updates, totaling over eleven thousand words.

Isn’t this enough sincerity and effort?]

Chapter Fifty: Hummingbird

When he boarded the plane, Chen Nuo proactively helped carry the equipment. After entering the cabin, he also took the initiative to sit in the corner, perfectly adhering to the polite and formal behavior expected of a stranger—unobtrusive.

Inside the cabin, Niveer gazed out of the window at the vast expanse of distant, snow-capped mountains. Due to the good weather, the visibility was excellent, and Niveer seemed somewhat mesmerized.

Meanwhile, Chen Nuo huddled in a corner of the cabin, earplugs in his ears, listening to music on his MP3 player.

This action elicited a touch of disdain from Lux.

Hmph, turns out he’s a novice.

Any climber with even a bit of experience knows not to waste battery power frivolously, because once you arrive at EBC, it’s not so easy to recharge your batteries.

Lux’s disdainful glance only flickered briefly across Chen Nuo’s face. She had not the slightest bit of fondness for him.

For one, she did not like people who were late, and because of Chen Nuo’s lateness, the departure of her own group was delayed.

Secondly, although Chen Nuo was dressed in mountaineering gear, he looked thin and frail.

Lux, a fitness enthusiast, gym lover, and squat-addict from the United Kingdom, did not like this type of pretty boy.

Yet Chen Nuo seemed to have noticed Lux’s stare and actually initiated conversation.

"Hello. I feel like I’ve seen you before... Are you, by any chance, known by the nickname ’Hummingbird’?"

Lux was taken aback momentarily.

Hummingbird was the nickname the industry had given her after she had appeared on several sports magazine covers.

Alright, even though I don’t like this guy, my upbringing and courtesy still compel me to nod reluctantly, Lux thought, forcing a polite smile. "Yes, it seems you’ve read my magazines."

"Of course," Chen Nuo smiled. "You are very beautiful."

"...Thank you." Lux nodded briefly and then pulled her hat down, closing her eyes to rest—a clear signal: Don’t bother me.

Chen Nuo’s gaze landed on Niveer’s face.

Niveer’s profile was beautiful. The healthy blush on the young girl’s cheeks gave her a vibrant look. Especially beneath her long eyelashes, those blue eyes were exceptionally stunning.

Chen Nuo sighed inwardly.

Hummingbird.

These birds are known for their small size and vibrant feathers. Especially during flight, their wings flutter at a high frequency, producing a buzzing sound similar to that of a bee.

Thus the name, Hummingbird.

In his past life, it was also the code name Niveer used while she was by Chen Yanluo’s side, accompanying him through life and death, walking on the margins of hell for many years.

However... this Niveer did not like hummingbirds.

She chose this codename to honor her sister, Lux.

Because, according to the history of her past life, on March 22, 2001, the Devonshire family was to encounter an accident while climbing Mount Lobuche.

In the accident, apart from the eighteen-year-old Niveer, the entire Devonshire family perished.

This accident caused eighteen-year-old Niveer’s life to reach a turning point.

However, years later, Niveer, after meeting Chen Nuo, revealed the truth about what happened that day:

During the climb on a steep rock face, her uncle Benjamin suddenly cut the rope with his own hands, causing Mr. and Mrs. Rock Devonshire to fall to their deaths—it was an outright murder!

Niveer and her sister Lux were saved thanks to Lux’s quick reaction. Lux managed to jam an ice axe into the rock face in time, saving them both.

Benjamin tried to kill the two sisters to silence them, but in the end, Lux, in her attempt to protect her younger sister, grabbed Benjamin’s rope, and both plummeted into The Abyss together!

Eighteen-year-old Niveer witnessed her uncle murder her parents. Then she saw her sister holding their enemy as they both fell into The Abyss. For a young girl of eighteen, inexperienced in the ways of the world, it was as if her entire world collapsed.

And what was worse, Niveer, after being rescued and returned, faced an even more difficult situation:

In the second month after being rescued, Niveer was convicted of murder and sentenced to thirty years in prison.

Niveer met Chen Nuo six years after her entire family’s tragedy, when she was twenty-four.

Their meeting place was a high-security women’s prison.

Niveer had already spent a full six years in that prison.

Her crime was: in her family’s ancestral mansion, she personally killed a relative who tried to usurp the Devonshire’s last estate. That mansion was the only memory and emotional tie left from Niveer’s former life.

Glimpsing Niveer’s past from her previous life:

Her younger years were filled with sunshine before her family suffered a disaster. At eighteen, relatives akin to hungry wolves robbed her of her inheritance. The desperate girl eventually snapped. Having lost everything, eighteen-year-old Niveer committed murder in anger and was imprisoned, spending the next six years there.

Until one day, Chen Yanluo received a contract to eliminate the warden of that prison.

During that operation, Chen Nuo first saw Niveer in the warden’s office.

Twenty-four-year-old Niveer was kneeling in the corner, her neck collared with metal, attached to a chain, like a pitiful dog. The girl was naked, with a vacant look in her eyes, like a soulless doll.

The warden was a vicious old woman with a sadistic mindset.

Chen Nuo shot the warden. As the twisted old woman writhed in agony on the ground, Niveer suddenly snapped to her senses. She leaped up like a madwoman and pounced on the warden, using her nails and teeth in a frenzy, as if wanting to tear the woman apart.

She even bit off a piece of flesh from the woman’s body.

Niveer, after being taken away by Chen Nuo, later told him that on her first day in prison, the warden had singled her out. Because of her noble status, the perverse woman had made Niveer her "special toy pet," tormenting her for a full six years!

From that moment on, Niveer followed Chen Nuo, giving herself a new name: Hummingbird.

·

Amid the sound of the helicopter rotors, Chen Nuo ceased his reminiscing.

The plane slowly landed on a flat terrain no more than fifty meters in diameter, close to the EBC base camp.

When disembarking, Rock Devonshire shook hands with Chen Nuo. "It’s been a pleasant journey. Good luck, young man."

Chen Nuo looked deeply at the other man, his gaze at first a bit complex, but then he smiled and extended his hand.

"I’m glad we traveled together. We’ll be at EBC for the next few days, so please don’t hesitate to ask for my help if you need anything."

He turned and rummaged through his backpack, then walked back to Niveer’s side, handing her something and stuffing it into her hand with a smile. "A little gift."

Watching the youth’s unsteady figure as he shouldered his mountaineering bag and walked away, Niveer was stunned for a moment, then looked at the 75% dark chocolate in her palm.

And it was her favorite brand, no less: Debauve & Gallais.

...Was it a coincidence?

Niveer subconsciously glanced at the young man’s retreating figure.

"...I don’t like this guy," Lux appeared at her side and whispered.

"Why?" Niveer frowned.

Lux laughed, as if joking. "Because he completely ignored my beauty and only showered you with attention."

The joke wasn’t very funny, but Niveer still forced a small smile.

·

The massive Khumbu Glacier was close at hand.

It was still afternoon, and there was still some time before the sun would set.

Even though Niveer had seen glaciers before, the sight of the world-famous Khumbu Glacier up close was still stunning.

Contrary to what most people might think, the glacier wasn’t a sheet of silver-white, but rather, it held a unique, faint shade of blue—probably reflecting the color of the sky.

But that haunting blue was mesmerizing...

Although EBC is situated at an altitude of 5,300 meters, the climate here isn’t particularly cold. In March, daytime temperatures are quite pleasant with sunlight, but at night, they can plummet to zero degrees Celsius or below.

Dressed in her windbreaker, Niveer very skillfully helped her father set up the tent. Lux, her mother, and her uncle were not around; Niveer heard they had gone to the camp’s main tent to buy some replenishing supplies.

A tent, sleeping bags, and a tent for use as a toilet—yes, a special tent for a toilet is necessary. Otherwise, late at night, with sub-zero temperatures combined with the alpine climate, it wouldn’t be possible to just relieve yourself outdoors... unless you want to freeze solid.

Moreover, according to the rules for mountaineers, all trash—including human waste—must be cleaned up.

After helping her father with the tent, Niveer stepped out alone, intending to take some photos with her camera. She then saw a particularly striking red tent over ten meters from their campsite. The young man was squatting outside his tent, talking to a Sherpa guide.

Then the Sherpa guide took several oxygen cylinders off a yak and dropped them, taking a few banknotes from the young man.

Niveer noticed the youth seemed to have seen her and waved at her.

After a moment’s hesitation, Niveer reluctantly waved her arm back... only for this guy to seize the opportunity and run over!

As the young man approached, Niveer hesitated for a moment but then kindly warned, "It’s best not to run like that. This is a high altitude, and it wastes a lot of energy."

Chen Nuo smiled.

"I don’t plan on mountaineering, just looking around nearby. Consider it hiking," he explained with a grin.

"You should be careful. Don’t do anything too strenuous." Niveer sighed. She hadn’t intended to talk much with a stranger, but her innate kindness made her add a few more words. "Even if it’s just hiking, this is a high-altitude area, and it comes with its dangers."

"Did you enjoy the chocolate?" Chen Nuo didn’t follow her previous comment but asked with a smile.

Niveer gave him a sidelong glance and walked away.

Not too far from the tent area of the base camp, there was a slightly mounded hillside.

On this hillside, some strange markers were planted in the ground.

Some were shovels, some were ice axes, and others were upright wooden planks—most of them in the shape of crosses.

One thing they had in common was that, more or less, each was adorned with strings or metal chains threaded through nameplates.

Niveer stood there quietly for a while, then, hearing footsteps from behind, she turned her head and saw that young man’s smiling face again.

"What are you thinking about?" Chen Nuo asked.

"..." Niveer sighed. "This is a sacred place for climbers. Every nameplate represents a mountaineer who died on their journey. Since it’s impossible to retrieve bodies from the snowy mountains and bring them down, most of the time, team members take the deceased’s nameplate back and hang it here."

"So, are you commemorating the deceased? Do you know anyone here? Do you want to become a great climber?"

"No." Niveer shook her head and glanced at Chen Nuo. "...I don’t just want to be a mere climber. I hope to become a great adventurer, an extreme sports athlete!"

Well, no wonder you were capable of any feat in your past life... Chen Nuo sighed inwardly.

"What are you two doing?" Lux’s voice interrupted.

It seems like the older sister appeared at the wrong time, Chen Nuo sighed.

Lux looked at Chen Nuo with a scrutinizing gaze for a moment. "You, better not try anything with my sister."

"Er?" Chen Nuo’s expression was odd and complex.

Ignoring Chen Nuo, the sisters turned and left.

Although Lux was wrapped in a thick jacket on top, the long, fit, and curvaceous thighs underneath, viewed from the back, were truly a visual delight...

Chen Nuo smiled, looking at that figure... Mmm... Such a beautiful... peach-shaped butt.

Sighing softly, Chen Nuo let his smile fade as he looked at the "grave markers" before him, his gaze somewhat gloomy.

·

「March 22nd, 2:40 PM.」

Lobuche Peak, at an altitude of about 6,000 meters.

Niveer’s eyes, hidden behind snow goggles, were firmly fixed on the ground below. Her hand, clutching the mountaineering pole with cold-protective gloves, could clearly feel a numbness in her palm.

In her head, she was slowly adjusting her breathing rhythm according to mountaineering techniques.

After nearly four hours of trekking, Niveer felt her physical strength was approaching a critical point.

Just then, someone patted her on the shoulder.

When climbing on a snowy mountain, even on flat terrain, team members communicate by tapping each other’s body—under thick and secured cold-protective gear, simply calling out might be missed, so it’s necessary to tap each other first to get attention.

"Up ahead! We’re almost at the climbing point!"

Niveer recognized it as her sister’s voice.

She didn’t look back but gave a thumbs up.

Niveer was in the middle of the team, a safety harness around her waist attached to a climbing rope. The five-person climbing team maintained a single-file line, moving towards the summit of Lobuche Peak.

This season was the offseason for mountain climbing, and no fellow climbers were encountered along the way to the summit of Lobuche Peak...

Of course, even during peak season, one wouldn’t see many people there.

There was still over a hundred meters in elevation to the summit of Lobuche Peak... but the distance to travel was not so short.

Ahead was a rock wall, not very tall... it was the only and last slightly challenging section on this climbing route.

For the Devonshire Family, all skilled climbers, the inclined rock wall did not pose a high level of difficulty.

Niveer looked up at the rock wall, feeling an abnormal rhythm in her heartbeat, but she did not think too much of it, assuming it was a normal reaction after physical exertion.

She adjusted her backpack, secured her walking stick, then took out a piton and tightened the carabiner on her climbing rope.

I’m fine! The girl was firm in her belief.

The cold wind carried snowflakes. Although Niveer wore a windproof climbing hat and goggles, she felt a whoosh of cold air beside her ears, as if there were a draft somewhere.

Then she realized that it must be an illusion.

After planting a piton firmly into a crack in the rock, Niveer caught her breath, hanging from the climbing rope and slightly turning her body.

At that moment, she felt her mind becoming increasingly sluggish...

Altitude sickness? Yes, after reaching the top, it seems I’ll need to use oxygen.

Her mind began to blur, and it was at that moment...

·

A bright knife blade, sawing at the climbing rope, an abrasive motion!

"My God! What are you doing!!"

"Stop!!"

"I’m going to fall!!"

"Hold on tight!! Don’t let go!!"

"Ice axe! Ice axe!!!!!"

BOOM...

It was unclear whether the BOOM was real or a buzzing in her ears.

Niveer felt herself falling, endlessly falling...

It was as if she had lost consciousness. The severe lack of oxygen and the extreme depletion of her physical strength left the girl’s mind completely chaotic...

Only a few fragments kept flashing through her mind...

·

The blade continued to cut into the rope.

But at that moment, SNAP... for some unknown reason, the blade slipped from the hand and fell directly down the rock wall...

The young girl’s eyes had already closed.

"Don’t be afraid, I’ve caught you." A familiar young face appeared, that smile showing white teeth.

She fell into darkness.

·

THUMP. THUMP.

The howling wind shook the tent’s alloy frame back and forth.

Niveer awoke from the darkness, feeling sensation gradually return to her body.

Wrapped in the sleeping bag, her body was warm.

The light inside the tent was dim. Niveer squinted and glanced around, then saw a figure in a red cold-weather mountaineering suit, squatting there, seemingly doing something.

A few seconds later, the person turned around, holding a can of steaming porridge.

"Drink this. I’ve just managed to heat it. Drink quickly, or it will cool down soon."

The young man in front of her had a familiar face.

"You? You... You..." Niveer’s head throbbed with pain, and upon seeing Chen Nuo, she suddenly became panicked. "Dad? Mom?? Sister???"

She abruptly sat up.

Chen Nuo slowly sat down in front of Niveer, gazing into the girl’s eyes.

His gaze was complex.

After a long time, Chen Nuo sighed gently. "Niveer, haven’t you woken up yet? There is no one else here. No father Rock, no mother, no sister Lux, and no uncle Benjamin.

"Everything...

"Is all your imagination.

"Everything is just you alone."

BOOM!!

The phrase "just you alone" was like a heavy hammer, smashing fiercely onto the girl’s heart!

All the images from the past few days shattered like glass!!

·

Niveer stood in front of the mirror at the Lukla airport control tower, saying to her reflection, "Alright ladies, we’re ready to go!"

Niveer impatiently said to her reflection, "Can we set off now? Dad said we still need to wait for a guest."

Then she looked up, hand on her forehead, gazing at the airplane appearing in the sky...

·

Niveer stood beside the airplane, looking at the young man in front of her, and said in a low voice, "The guest introduced by Wilson? I need to see your passport first, sir."

·

Niveer laughed heartily at the young man in front of her. "Great, our whole family are Arsenal fans. Welcome to the club, Mr. Chen."

·

"Hello. I feel like I’ve seen you before... Excuse me, do you happen to have a nickname called... Hummingbird?"

Niveer responded with a reserved smile, "Yes, it seems you’ve read my magazine."

·

Upon deplaning, Niveer and Chen Nuo shook hands. "It was a pleasant journey. Good luck, young man."

·

Niveer looked at the chocolate in her hand, her expression blank, but she mockingly talked to herself, "I don’t like this guy... Why?... Because he ignored my beauty and only showed courtesy to you."

·

She set up the tent alone, then turned her head to see the boy waving enthusiastically at her.

·

She stood shoulder to shoulder with the young man, looking at those gravestones, then suddenly whispered to him in a warning tone, "What are you doing?... Don’t you dare think about making a move on my sister!"

Then she turned around and walked away, leaving the young man with a strange and complex expression.

...

......

......

"On April 17, 1997, your father, Mr. Rock Devonshire, and your mother, Mrs. Rosa Devonshire, the famous mountaineering couple, died on their way to climb Mount Everest due to severe weather conditions.

"On June 3, 1999, your sister Lux was the gifted heiress of the Devonshire family and a rising star in the mountaineering world. Determined to honor your parents’ legacy and in their memory, she set out to climb Mount Everest. However, during acclimatization training on Lobuche Peak, she fell to her death due to an accidental break in a climbing rope.

"On July 21, 2000, your uncle Benjamin, burdened by massive debts, pressured you to sell the family property. After you refused, he attempted to attack you violently. You shot him dead in self-defense. Although you were later acquitted... Niveer, perhaps it was from that time that you began to develop severe mental health problems."

Chen Nuo’s hand gently rested on the shoulder of the dazed girl.

He continued, "For a long time, you’ve split and fantasized in your mind about your parents, your sister, your uncle—four different personalities, plus yourself. You’ve been living the roles of these five people every day.

"You fantasized that all the tragedies in your family never happened, and everything lived on in a dream world supported solely by you...

"Of course, to outsiders, you just seemed more and more eccentric, increasingly fond of whispering to yourself, and your behavior grew more and more bizarre.

"Just last month, you dropped out of Eton College because you were frequently absent from class.

"In the past year, you’ve spent too much time traveling around the world, hiking, or engaging in various extreme sports. You imagined that your family was still with you, that your parents and sister were still alive...

"Until the day before yesterday, you arrived in Nepal.

"You used your sister’s passport and identity to join a beginner mountaineering training program and generously paid all the expenses, taking everyone by helicopter to EBC.

"After that, I paid for a ride on your flight.

"And this afternoon, you and your teammates reached the last rock climbing point before the summit of Lobuche Peak.

"You had a delusion on the rock wall... you tried to cut the climbing rope with a knife!"

·

Yes, all this was the truth.

There was no Devonshire family murder tragedy, no uncle killing parents, no sister dying with the uncle.

In reality, Niveer had used her sister’s passport and identity to come to Nepal and join a team.

Then, that very afternoon, while climbing Lobuche Peak, Niveer suddenly became mentally disturbed. Her multiple personalities caused a chaotic fantasy, imagining that tragic scene.

And the truth is, in her confusion, she personally cut the rope, resulting in two team members being seriously injured and one minorly injured!

In her previous life’s history, after Niveer was brought down the mountain by the rescue team and returned to the United Kingdom, she faced legal charges for the incident where people were injured. Since she was diagnosed with a mental disorder, she was committed to a psychiatric hospital.

There was no high-security prison, no killing relatives to protect the old house.

In fact, that psychiatric hospital detained patients who had committed serious crimes due to mental health issues—it was actually a special type of prison.

That evil and twisted warden was actually the head of the psychiatric hospital.

Of course, the evil part was true.

The day Chen Nuo sneaked into the psychiatric hospital, he indeed saw Niveer, naked and tied up like a dog in the corner of the director’s office—by then she had been tortured by that evil maniac for six years.

And the only difference was: that time, the commission Chen Nuo received was not to assassinate some warden.

Chen Yanluo’s assassination target was Niveer herself!

The sole heir to the Devonshire family’s title and vast estate!

If she were to die, then... the client who commissioned Chen Nuo would benefit greatly.

This was all... the truth!

·

The young girl sat in the sleeping bag, her expression shifting from numb to dazed, and then, bit by bit, emotion began to show.

In her eyes, deep sorrow began to emerge, little by little!

Finally, she started to sob softly.

·

"I’m sorry for dragging you out of this dream," Chen Nuo whispered gently. "If it were a beautiful dream, I’d wish for you to keep sleeping and never wake up. But, little Hummingbird, you’ve fallen into a nightmare you wove for yourself. It seems beautiful, but it’s actually a dark abyss.

"So, I am a person who fell from the sky. I’ve come a long way just to help drive away your nightmare."

The girl cried as if she had exhausted all her strength, wailing loudly...

·

·

[Just one thing to say, who else can weave such a cool story? Is it worth your votes and rewards?

So come on and give them~~~~

BANG BANG BANG!]